“VU Experts Help Understand”: the Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Narges Mohammadi for Her Fight Against Oppression of Women

On 6 October, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi ‘for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all’. According to Prof. Margarita Šešelgytė, the Director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University (VU), this award confirms that it is important to keep women’s rights on the political agenda as a priority issue.

Awarded for her global-scale efforts for women’s rights

‘This year, the committee has once again decided to grant a thematic award. N. Mohammadi is a prominent women’s rights activist who has spent 12 years in Iranian prisons. Her name became known worldwide in 2022 when mass demonstrations broke out in Iran, triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death. The 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin was killed while in the custody of the morality police for an improperly worn hijab – a head covering that is compulsory for all women in public places in Iran,’ says Prof. M. Šešelgytė.

According to her, due to the massiveness of these protests, political observers started speculating whether this could lead to a regime change. Under the slogan “Woman – Life – Freedom”, hundreds of thousands of Iranians participated in peaceful protests against the authorities’ brutality and oppression of women. However, the theocratic regime cracked down harshly on them: more than 500 demonstrators were killed, thousands injured, and at least 20,000 people were arrested and detained.

‘All this draws attention to the discrimination of women’s and human rights in general in Islamic countries. Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to N. Mohammadi shows that this major issue is a global priority. It, therefore, remains important to keep it on the political agenda,’ the professor comments.

The chances of the imprisoned laureate accepting her prize in person are very low

Prof. Šešelgytė underlines that there have already been several Nobel Peace Prizes granted to women’s rights activists: ‘We can also mention Shirin Ebadi, who in 2003 became the first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2014, it was Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani woman shot by a Taliban gunman on her way home from school. In 2018, the prize went to Nadia Murad, a female Kurdish fighter imprisoned by the Islamic State, as well as to Denis Mukwege, a world-renowned gynaecologist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, specialising in treating victims of wartime sexual violence.’

Unfortunately, there is little hope that N. Mohammadi, who is currently serving her sentence in Tehran, will be able to accept the Nobel Prize personally at the official ceremony to be held in December.

‘There is no tradition of releasing political prisoners of non-democratic regimes to allow them to accept their Nobel Prizes in person. In fact, more often, the opposite happens. When S. Ebadi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, an international scandal broke out after the regime had seized her medal. The then Prime Minister of Norway published a statement reporting that a Nobel Peace Prize had been confiscated for the first time in history. Nevertheless, the Iranian authorities denied the charges,’ explains Prof. M. Šešelgytė.

The award gives hope to those fighting against the regime

According to the political scientist, it is still difficult to say whether anything is likely to change in Iran: ‘The optimism sparked by the mass protests is already fading. It seems that the regime is becoming even more restrictive. Therefore, in this context, the message brought by the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize is more important than ever, supporting all those who continue their fight against the regime, which can be detrimental to their health and even life.’

According to Iran’s semi-official news agency, N. Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her ‘acts against Iran’s national security’. The Iranian authorities have not yet issued any statement in this regard.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish kronor (around USD 1 million), will be awarded in Oslo on 10 December. As of Friday’s announcement, Nobel Prizes have now been granted to a total of 63 women, including 27 in the scientific categories. Only five women have won the Nobel Prize in Physics, and only two in Economics.